Retro Megabit

Genesis Mods – The List

Posted by Sega Dude on June 21, 2012

Posted in: Community, Hardware, Modifications. Tagged: cartridge, genesis, hardware, mod, modification, sega, slot. 4 Comments

For a long while I’ve known about modifications for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. There are several very practical things you can do to a Genesis. I’ve kept these ideas at bay because I don’t have any soldering or electrical skills. But despite this I’m slowly starting to warm up to the idea. This first step is a simple one. I’m going to create a list of the mods I would like to have on a Genesis.

The simplest mod for a Sega Genesis is to widen the cartridge slot so that you can insert Japanese Mega Drive games. For anyone who can’t stand of the idea of cutting into their Genesis then the story might end right here.
But for me I have several Genesis consoles and my original system is already modded. My original modded Genesis slot has been widened and regular Japanese Mega Drive games can fit into it. However, those fat Sun Soft cartridges cannot. Not even close. So the plan is to buy a dremel and expand my Genesis slot enough to fit what I believe to be the largest cartridge created for the system.

Here’s TheDamoMonster who does a great job showing us how this is done.

So what do you get for your efforts? You get a Genesis that can accommodate the larger size of the Japanese Mega Drive games. And with the exception of about 62 games that have region locks built into them you’ll be able to play all other Japanese Mega Drive games on your Genesis.

Thanks to markvergeer who put together a list of 62 games that have region locking encoded on them. These games will run only on systems that match the intended region of that cart.

Twenty one of these games were made in 1992 and 1993. The remaining forty two games where made in 1994 or later. Considering the size of the Genesis/Mega Drive game library the amount of region locked games is thankfully pretty small.

Now, back to my mod wish list. And of course we already know number on the list:

1) Widen Genesis cartridge slot to accommodate the largest Japanese Mega Drive Sun Soft carts.
2) Install Region/Language switches.
3) Install composite Video and Audio jacks.
4) Over clock the Genesis.

The region and language mods will ensure we’ll be able to play all games and possibly see first hand the difference in some games that vary from region to region.
Installing composite jacks will hopefully profide the best audio and visual experience you can have on the Genesis. I believe SCART is a better option available to PAL regions.
I only read about over clocking the Genesis recently and it’s something that will only be noticeable in a few scenarios; such as in Sonic split screen mode or when Sonic loose 100+ rings and the system really slows down when trying to draw all those sprites! I’m sure there are other good example of games that could use a little more horse power but you get the idea 🙂

OK, I’m going to need some tools…

Three Mega Drive Games – New Additions

Posted by Sega Dude on June 14, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Mega Drive (Japanese), Reviews. Tagged: collection, mega drive, picture, Rent a Hero, review, sega, Super Hydlide, Sword of Sodan, video game. 9 Comments

I’ve surprised myself at how pleased I am with these three new additions. Because of the language barrier I wouldn’t be able to play two of them and the third is unofficially ranked as the worst Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game ever… So why am I excited about these additions?

First, they’re were cheap and they are all in Excellent condition. Yay! Second, they all have pretty good artwork. And finally (and oddly) I found a positive review about Sword of Sodan on Sega-16.com that does a great job painting an entirely different impression of what is commonly thought of as a horrible game (more on that below the screen shots).

Rent a Hero looks like it could be a very cool game. I’ve read that it is a RPG that uses the Phantasy Star 2 engine but the combat is real time and similar to 2D fighting games. Sounds very interesting! I believe there is translated ROM lurking around the Internet. I might have to check it out.

Super Hydlide is a RPG that I almost bought back in the day. I loved the cover art so much I found it very hard to resist. A good friend was able to talk me down and save me from some disappointment. To this day I don’t know if Super Hydlide is bad or if it would have just been too complex for me as a kid… But now when cover art is enough I finally have this one for the Mega Drive side of my collection.

Rent a Hero

Super Hydlide

Sword of Sodan

Rent a Hero – $8.00
Super Hydelide – $5.00
Sword of Sodan – $10.00
Plus $14.00 for shipping (approx $12 per game)

Now, back to Sword of Sodan. I had never played this game and from all I read and what I saw of it on youtube I was ready to agree with the common consensus that it sucked really very hard. Then when browsing Sega-16.com I found a fans lengthy comments about his experience with Sword of Sodan and I was impressed. Not with the game but this gamers point of view and ability to explain the mechanics of the game and all the details that everyone else seemed to have missed.

If you’ve got some time check out the scathing review (3/10) posted as the official Sword of Sodan review by Sega-16.com.

Below are goldenband‘s detailed experience with Sword of Sodan.
Originally posted on Sega-16.com post #11:

Brothers and sisters, I am now among the few, the proud, the “WTF-is-wrong-with-you?”: for scarcely an hour ago, I beat Sword of Sodan on its highest difficulty setting. That is, Normal difficulty, three starting lives, and using the guy character — whose name is, I kid you not, “Brodan”.

Jokes aside, I think the game is far better than its reputation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got loads of problems, and I totally understand why people are frustrated and annoyed by it. It also didn’t help that the game defaults to the hardest difficulty setting — it makes the first level almost unplayable, at least without a lot of experience and patience.

But it seems like Sword of Sodan is yet another entry in the long line of offbeat games with strange controls, and apparently high difficulty, that get trashed relentlessly as “worst game ever” (paging Bokosuka Wars)…but which, if you actually take the time to learn their idiosyncracies, are totally playable and even fun. I’ve gotten to the point where, on any setting except Normal/Brodan, I can beat the game at least 50% of the time.

I think I even…am I allowed to say this here?…like Sword of Sodan. A lot of people complain about the stiff animation, but it doesn’t bother me at all — it’s as if I’m playing a medieval painting come to life. And I like the fact that there’s no music during the levels, it’s a welcome change from all the in-your-face Poochie power-chord bullshit that plagues so many games from the early 1990s.

For the record, I want to dispel a few myths and misunderstandings about Sword of Sodan:

“You have to crotch-stab everyone” – Totally not true, and a really bad strategy to boot. The overhead (Up+C) and thrust (Forward+C) attacks are the key to this game, and 99% of the time, they’re the only attacks you’ll use.
“The pits in Level 5 are invisible” – Again, not true, they’re just concealed. If you look at the backgrounds closely, there’s a little divot in the stone floor that shows you exactly where they are. Almost everyone gets this wrong, including the guy who wrote the GameFAQs walkthrough, but kudos to the Sega-16 reviewer who gets it right.
“The hit detection sucks” – OK, it kinda does, but at least it’s consistent. Once you learn where the hit boxes are on your enemies, they’re pretty reliable.
“It’s unbelievably gay” – I can’t really argue with that, because it’s easily one of the most homoerotic games I’ve ever played, on a par with NES Ring King even. (Cue Jerry Seinfeld saying “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”) I’d normally assume it was all unintentional, but when even the programmer bio in the manual says that “he may be on Uranus”, you really start to wonder. Actually, I think it’d be totally awesome if the whole game was deliberate camp; maybe John Waters could direct a sequel? “Sword of Sodan 2: The Battle of Baltimore!”

Having said that, there are two things that 100% suck in this game, at least if you’re playing on Normal difficulty. One is the first level, which is relatively easy with Shardan (the girl), but a nightmare with the guy, who doesn’t have enough reach to match the pikemen; a flaming sword (ahem) is the only answer here. The other one is the giant soldiers at the start of Level 5 where, unless you have an orange potion or a shield, it’s basically impossible to kill them if they double up on you.

There are some other things missing from the GameFAQs walkthrough, and I’ve thought about either emailing the author, or writing a second walkthrough of my own. For example, you can get through Level 4 (the zombie level) without taking a hit, simply by immediately jumping to the far right side of the screen and attacking repeatedly. Done correctly, it works every time: the zombies never have a chance, because you push them offscreen faster than the scrolling can catch up.

There’s a warp in Level 5, triggered by falling into the third pit (IIRC), that sends you straight to Level 6 and bypasses the rest of the giant soldiers. And in the final boss battle, you can actually drive him backwards just by kneeling right next to him! I also think he has some sort of regeneration timer — sometimes I’ve had to kill him three or four times before he changes into the wizard form, but if I do a lot of damage quickly, it only takes one cycle. (The occasional audio chime might have something to do with this? Not sure.)

So…anyone else out there who’ll stand up for this much-maligned but lovable freak of a game?

Originally posted on Sega-16.com post #11 by goldenband.

And while we’re diving deep into Sword of Sodan take a look at this Easter Egg which I also discovered while browsing Sega-16.com.
Originally post Sega-16.com 10 Best Genesis Easter Eggs.

If you grew up in the ’90s in North America, you most likely have memories of the FBI logo screen and slogan “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” in most arcade games. Indeed, it has become a cultural icon of the time, although now merely relegated to a retro and sarcastic saying (Major League Baseball proved this false). At the time, it was on the forefront of the very serious War on Drugs… which in retrospect is sort of ridiculous.

However, to really get that arcade feeling, the kind people at Electronics Arts added a unique Easter egg for players looking for a quick fix. During the game, if you drink one of each kind of potion at the same time, your character’s chest bursts open and you fall to the ground, dying. Text appears that reads “Winners don’t do drugs.”

Five Genesis Games – New Additions

Posted by Sega Dude on June 8, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America). Tagged: Atomic Runner, Batman Forever, collection, Final Zone, genesis, Global Gladiators, Land Stalker, picture, sega, video game. 3 Comments

I’ve wanted the Final Zone the Genesis version of FZ Axis for a long while. It’s one of the few examples where the Genesis had different artwork but was also good. Good game, good artwork and very good condition. It’s a nice one for the collection.

Final Zone

Atomic Runner strikes me as an old style video game that managed to find it’s way to the Genesis. Similar to some of the Wonder Boy games where the levels always move to the right forcing the pace of the game. It’s also a one hit and you’re done game. I played it for a bit and it is very hard! It’s in very good condition and looks pretty good for the collection.
I know stopxwhispering over at retro-video-gaming is getting ready to post a review for this one but I’m guessing she still hasn’t beaten it; which for stopxwhispering is a prerequisite for her review. Good luck with this one! It’s a real challenge.

Atomic Runner

Global Gladiators is a franchised McDonald’s game. I wouldn’t have considered it except it was very cheap, complete and in excellent condition. The graphics are surprisingly good.

Global Gladiators

One of my main interests here is Land Stalker and unfortunately it’s not in as good shape as I thought it would be. I’d say the condition is good and I was expecting very good. I went back to the sellers pictures and there is no fault there. Sometimes pictures can be misleading. It’s a very good game but for the money I wish it was in better shape.

Land Stalker

Batman Forever was cheap and in excellent condition. <– That’s a big weakness of mine. But the game play is horrible. Global Gladiators is much much better.

Batman Forever

Final Zone – $24.95
Atomic Runner- $19.95
Global Gladiators – $5.95
Land Stalker- $29.95
Batman Forever – $8.95

Plus $3 for shipping. It wasn’t actually three but I was able to work out a deal and the seller took it out of the shipping cost. ($18.55 per game)

Four Mega Drive Games – New Additions

Posted by Sega Dude on June 3, 2012

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Mega Drive (Japanese). Tagged: collection, Darwin 4081, mega drive, picture, Ringside Angel, sega, SHIKINJOH, TEL TEL MAHJONG, video game. 21 Comments

Here are four new addition for the collection. These four Mega Drive games are nothing too exciting but three of them are somewhat unique.

Darwin 4081 is another top down spaceship shooter. It’s in excellent condition and the game itself looks just ok. So nothing very special here.

Darwin 4081

Ringside Angel is the only Mega Drive/Genesis game to have a hologram cover and this copy is in excellent condition.

Ringside Angel

SHIKINJOH looks like it might be a good puzzle game. Music is good, graphics are simple and it could be a solid puzzler. What I like most about it is that it’s one of those few Sunsoft games to come in a very small case. If you look close you’ll also notice that the case spine is on the right. This style case is thoroughly Japanese! I’m curious why all Japanese Mega Drives games don’t open this way.

SHI KIN JOH

TEL TEL MAHJONG is another Sunsoft mini case and that’s the only reason I wanted this mahjong game.

TEL TEL MAHJONG

Darwin 4081 – $12.00
Ringside Angel – $10.00
SHIKINJOH – $12.00
TEL TEL MAHJONG – $10.00
Plus $23.50 for shipping (approx $17 per game)

Below is a picture of my four Sunsoft mini case games. I did a quick search and I couldn’t find any others. These might be the only mini cases releases for the Mega Drive. I do know that not all Sunsoft games come in these mini cases. Panorama Cotton for example has the over sized cartridge but with a normal size clam shell case.

Edit (Update): Roger posted a great comment below about these Sunsoft mini cases. Turns out there are seven in this style: Super Fantasy Zone, Batman, Shi Kin Joh, Tel Tel Mahjong, Flashback, Lemmings and Tel Tel Stadium. It might be hard to get these last three but I will try 🙂 Thanks Roger!

My Sega Mega Drive Sunsoft mini cases.

Edit (Update): My fellow collector geelw made a good point about Ringside Angel. What I described is not actually a hologram cover but instead a lenticular printing. But at the time of my original post “lenticular” wasn’t in my vocabulary.

geelw‘s comment below made me realize that I didn’t actually know what was on the cover and hidden by the lenticular printing. I was curious enough to pull it out and take a few pictures:

Lenticular Portrait

Lenticular Gun Show

So there is nothing too shocking (or interesting) here but finally we can put this Mega Drive mystery to bed.

The Video Game Bosses’ Lament

Posted by Sega Dude on May 6, 2012

Posted in: Community. Tagged: castlevania, college humor, contra, mario, metroid, nintendo, sega, sonic, The Video Game Bosses' Lament, video game, zelda. Leave a comment

‘Just one or two guys!’ – Boss.

Old retro video games are still getting lots of love. I enjoyed this College Humor video so much I wanted to share it with anyone who might have missed it.

The Video Game Bosses’ Lament by College Humor

Pick-Ups Peaked

I’m sure anyone who collects Mega Drive/Genesis games is aware of the inexplicably ‘elite games’ that are often listed for prices wildly higher than most other games. Through out the years as I’ve shopped online I’ve gotten familiar with many of these over prices games. And it has always been discouraging.

I’ll want to add a game to the collection for various different reasons. A game might be an excellent game to play or it might just have some really nice artwork and look great nuzzled into the collection. Or sometimes I start wanting a game just because I can’t have it.

Like many of us, I’ve been watching ebay for a long time and it is really very rare to find a good deal for any of these expensive games. I get the impression I might have lucked out on my copy of Sailor Moon that I bought a while ago with a Super Key.

I don’t remember when I first heard of Play Asia but I decided to give them a closer look. I browsed what they had and I saw the games below but the prices were only a bit cheaper than the typical ebay prices. It felt like a dead end. But not wanting to give up I thought about what size of a transaction would give me significant buying power. My thinking was if I was able to put together a large enough order I could make an offer at a very reduced price. So I made my wish list and emailed an offer.

Below are the games I was trying to score including the asking price listed by Play Asia’s web site. They total $554.10 USD plus shipping. I offered them $360 USD plus shipping… my offer was rejected.

Panorama Cotton (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 139.90 (~140.65 CAD)

El Viento (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 59.90 (~60.22 CAD)

Gunstar Heroes (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 39.90 (~40.11 CAD)

Wonder Boy in Monster World IV (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 54.90 (~55.20 CAD)

Splatterhouse Part 2 (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 49.90 (~50.17 CAD)

Splatterhouse Part 3 (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 59.90 (~60.22 CAD)

Metal Fangs (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 34.90 (~35.09 CAD)

Mystical Fighter (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 59.90 (~60.22 CAD)

Double Dragon II: The Revenge (For Mega Drive™, Japan, NTSC J)
US$ 54.90 (~55.20 CAD)

To Play Asia’s credit they were very nice and polite. They did not berate me for making such an offer. In fact, as good business people, they took the time to exchange emails and they made a counter offer.
They offered me eight of the above games for $320 USD plus shipping. That was for all but Panorama Cotton. Or all nine games, including Panorama Cotton for $440 USD plus shipping. This was trouble for me. Panorama Cotton was clearly the most expensive game in this lot but because it is one of those inexplicably over priced games and for no other good reason I wanted it most of all.

I inquired about shipping for nine games and they quoted me $26.90 USD.

So for nine games (including Panorama Cotton) with shipping in mind; there web site asking price would have cost me $65 per game.
My offer would have landed me with a price of $43 per game.
And Play Asia’s counter offer would set the cost per game at $52 each.

Doing a quick calculation in my head I can see that $52 per game is more than my typical goal of $20 per game. It’s really a lot more.
However, Play Asia did do better than meeting me half way. For a time I was on the fence… not sure if I should spend the money. It was a lot of money to consider forking over all at once for some retro video games. I even emailed them again with my own counter offer. Offering just $20 less but they wouldn’t go for it.

So in the end I pulled the trigger 😛 And I’m pretty sure I’m content with this. I may do something similar again with Play Asia when I can afford to and when they have some exciting prospects for the collection. However, it’s very possible that I’ll never again have a set of Pick-Ups as exciting as this bunch.

Here are some brief impression of these games including a picture of each:

Panorama Cotton – Excellent Condition – One of the first games I got for the Genesis was Space Harrier II and I loved it. For the era the graphics rocked and the game was able to keep my attention for a long time. I use to enjoy beating it on a regular basis. Games like After Burner and Galaxy Force which were similar didn’t really capture me. Some how, and I can’t explain it, they didn’t feel as engaging or as fun. When I first saw Panorama Cotton I was struck by now great it looked. That combined with a nice little 16-bit sound track it was the first time I felt like there was a worthy successor to Space Harrier 2.

How is Panorama Cotton? It’s actually pretty good. If you like Space Harrier 2 I do believe you’d enjoy Panorama Cotton. The one issue I had with it is that it’s easy to lose track of what you’re looking at. There is so much going on that it’s easy to lose focus on your character and as a result you’ll start flying into things and taking damage. And when that starts happening you might also notice that your little Witch’s (the main character) voice is a tad on the annoying side. But for the price it’s not worth it for the game alone; only for crazy collectors.

And (unfortunately) I think I have set a new record for the most money I have spent on a single game. Even though I consider the per game cost of an order; according to Play Asia, in their minds they sold me Panorama Cotton for $120.00. Ouch… that beats out my bootleg copy of Tetris that I paid $100 for.

The wife keeps promising to sign up to my blog… but with any luck she’ll remain uninterested and miss out on these details 😛

El Viento – Excellent Condition – This game is a solid platformer. I haven’t yet played it much but so far it seems like it’s going to be some good fun.

Gunstar Heroes – Excellent Condition – Wow. What can I say. This game really surprised me. It is excellent. I think it might be one of the best platformer/shooters for the Mega Drive. Lots of action and variety in weapons and attacks, load of bosses and mini bosses and it’s also two player. I knew this one was popular and it only took about four minutes of playing to understand why.

Wonder Boy in Monster World IV – Excellent Condition – From my Sega Master System days I have always loved Wonder Boy. And for a long time I’ve wanted Monster World IV to complete the set. I’m sure I’ll need to find an English version in order to properly play this game and I am looking forward to That. However, it feels really very satisfying to finally get this authentic Japanese version into the collection. For the last few years I’ve seen the price of this game rise from $40 to $60 or more. So some time ago I think I could have done better but still, I’m glad now to check this one off the list.

Splatterhouse Part 2 – Excellent Condition – Walk from left to right, punch and smash anything in your way. Who knew how fun this game would be?! A simple and good looking game with a simple story that is just fun. I haven’t played much yet but already I’m very interested in it and thrilled to have it in the collection.

Splatterhouse Part 3 – Excellent Condition – Wow. This game rocks. While testing this game I got sucked in. It’s fantastic. It shares a lot of similarities with Part 2 but the major difference is it’s not a left to right platformer. Like Golden Axe it has an isometric view vs. pure side view and this takes the game to the next level. This game is really very amazing.

Metal Fangs – Excellent Condition – I think it sucks. At the start of the game there are a lot of options for customizing your race car and selecting drivers which seemed very cool but when it came to game play it was terrible. It could be that there are details I’m not aware of but it’s not all that interesting. I know it’s somewhat rare and now it’s in my Sega Collection🙂

Mystical Fighter – Very Good Condition – I want to say this one is in Excellent Condition but with three small signs of wear on the sleeve and the cart label that is starting to peal off so I can’t. However, over all it does look good. And on top of that it’s also a very good game. It’s an isometric game and it’s very much like Golden Axe. In my opinion it’s not quite as good but it’s still a very good game. It’s not a button masher. You have useful moves and tactics that play a part. The graphics are a bit plain and a lot of the sprites are re-used but it still manages to look good. And with little extras like hidden areas in many of the levels it’s really a worth while game.

Double Dragon II – Good Condition – So far this one sucks. It could be that I haven’t given it enough time but the controls were so counter intuitive that I didn’t have a good experience with it. I died for the first time when I encounter the fourth enemy. The fourth! This is the kind of game were you need to plow through hordes of baddies and I barely made it two screens into the game.🙂
I’m still a bit confused but here about how I think the controls work. Instead of having one button for punch and one for kick and letting you face whomever you want to hit one button is assigned to attack right and the other to attack left. Is it just me or is this a little nuts? Maybe someday I’ll go back and try to figure out what the heck happened. Like in one of my previous posts about touching up Splatterhouse Part 2 I also touched up Double Dragon II. This is how my Double Dragon II looked before I took my sharpies to it.